2019 JSA Press Release

Jeff Sauer Award

Modeled after the collegiate Hockey Humanitarian Award, recognizes Wisconsin
high school hockey players—male or female—who give back to their communities
in the true humanitarian spirit.

It is awarded annually at the Wisconsin Hockey Coaches Association State
Tournament Awards Banquet.

Shane Ryan, a senior goaltender from Madison Edgewood High School, was the
first recipient of the Jeff Sauer Award. The award was presented by University
of Wisconsin associate head coach Mark Strobel during Wednesday’s Wisconsin
High School Coaches Association dinner.

The annual award was designed to encourage community service among girls and
boys high school hockey players in Wisconsin. It is named after Jeff Sauer,
the legendary former University of Wisconsin coach and hockey ambassador, who
died in February, 2017.

The Jeff Sauer Award’s goal is to recognize good high school hockey players
being great people.

Ryan is a worthy example. Shane completed 230 hours of volunteer service. In
the last four years Ryan worked as an umpire and a groundskeeper at the
Madison West Side Little League fields.

He also created a fundraiser that provided scholarships to give to families
that couldn’t afford baseball equipment. Thus far Shane has raised $10,000
for families at the Little League complex.

Shane had a 4.03 grade point average at Edgewood and now attends the University of
Wisconsin. As a three-year player at Edgewood, Ryan had a 14-9-1
record with a 2.23 goals against average and an 8.98 save percentage.
His coach was Pete Rothering.

Ryan was one of four finalists for the award.

The others were Russell Albee, a junior goaltender from the Brookfield
Stars; Maddie Gibson, a junior forward from the Bay Area Ice Bears, and
Baileigh Johnson, a senior forward from Black Rivers Falls Co-op.